It's not often that we get a chance to review an entire series of toys, but luckily for us the first series of Indiana Jones Temple of Doom figures from LJN contained only three characters. Since we had all three in the shop at the same time, we figured we might as well take this opportunity to showcase some rare figures that not everyone gets a chance to see in person. Finding one of these figures complete is pretty difficult, but getting all three is slightly more difficult than what was just mentioned. Maybe like three times as difficult. We shall break them down in order of $$$ below.
These three figures were released in 1984, not to be confused with the larger series of smaller 3.75" figures released by Kenner in 1982.
There was a second series planned for these 5.5" figures, but ultimately those were cancelled and Willie Scott and Short Round never made it past the prototype stage. There was also a prototype production piece made of some sort of train cart play set, but again never made it to retail.
These three figures have pretty fun and unique sculpts and and accessories while suffering from lack of articulation brought on by the play features that LJN seemed to think their toys needed at the time. Each figure has a lever on it's back that when pushed down would trigger their arm(s) to raise up and drop down when released to mimic whipping/axe-ing/staffing. This is the same sort of thing that most fans disliked about LJN's flagship toy line from the 80s; The Thundercats.
While this may have been good for commercials showing each toys action feature, it really did a disservice to the toy itself as half of the figure's play pattern was dictated for you ahead of time. What if I didn't want to have Giant Thuggee thrashing his axe at Indy but rather wanted him to give everyone a hug? That arm flipping up in that motion while giving a hug is quite awkward and possibly lead to a misunderstanding that ultimately would lead staaaaight back to the fighting.
These three figures were released in 1984, not to be confused with the larger series of smaller 3.75" figures released by Kenner in 1982.
There was a second series planned for these 5.5" figures, but ultimately those were cancelled and Willie Scott and Short Round never made it past the prototype stage. There was also a prototype production piece made of some sort of train cart play set, but again never made it to retail.
These three figures have pretty fun and unique sculpts and and accessories while suffering from lack of articulation brought on by the play features that LJN seemed to think their toys needed at the time. Each figure has a lever on it's back that when pushed down would trigger their arm(s) to raise up and drop down when released to mimic whipping/axe-ing/staffing. This is the same sort of thing that most fans disliked about LJN's flagship toy line from the 80s; The Thundercats.
While this may have been good for commercials showing each toys action feature, it really did a disservice to the toy itself as half of the figure's play pattern was dictated for you ahead of time. What if I didn't want to have Giant Thuggee thrashing his axe at Indy but rather wanted him to give everyone a hug? That arm flipping up in that motion while giving a hug is quite awkward and possibly lead to a misunderstanding that ultimately would lead staaaaight back to the fighting.
Indy came with a whip with a handle that has a nice soft plastic handle that's easy to squeeze into his hand, a silver knife with a black handle, his trademark fedora and a bag with a strap that fits around his shoulder. He's our second favorite figure out of the three, but we'll let you guess which one is our fave.
Indy, just as the other two figures, had that weird "been sitting in storage for thirty years" stickiness to him and his accessories that was easily removed with a disinfectant wipe. Although his skin tone is somewhat "sickly" he's a good representation of the actor/character and we would have loved to have this figure when we saw the films for the first time.
Indy, just as the other two figures, had that weird "been sitting in storage for thirty years" stickiness to him and his accessories that was easily removed with a disinfectant wipe. Although his skin tone is somewhat "sickly" he's a good representation of the actor/character and we would have loved to have this figure when we saw the films for the first time.
Mola Ram has some pretty fun accessories, the cow(?) skull headdress, gold knife and gold staff with a skull molded to the top. He's the easiest to stand (not that the other two are hard to stand) with his robes molded solid down to his feet, but with the legs separate from one another so he can do some sick dance moves if need be. For a 5POA figure with thick sections such as those legs he does seem like he has a lot of playability to him.
His head sculpt is a bit more spot on than Indy's and really looks like Amrish Puri as Mola Ram. More so when the helmet is off and you can see his entire head.
His head sculpt is a bit more spot on than Indy's and really looks like Amrish Puri as Mola Ram. More so when the helmet is off and you can see his entire head.
Some how with a sash and a belt and a strap Giant Thuggee was still able to keep both nipple exposed. Well played, GT. Well played.
Giant Thuggee comes with a pickaxe, a scimitar and a strap/belt type thing that the scimitar fits in nicely for storage and intimidation. He also comes with an impressive beard sculpt. Not easy to do on figures without detracting from the movement of the head which is why a lot of times figures just have beards lazily painted on the figure. Which sucks because it usually ends up looking like the figure just got finished rubbing the lower part of his face in poop.
"GIANT THUGGEE DOES NOT PUT HIS FACE IN POOP! GIANT THUGGEE HAS A BEARD!!" He wanted us to tell you that.
All in all these figures are pretty great despite their built-in play features and despite sounding salesy here, would look great on your DVD shelf if you still have such a thing.
Liz - hold up is that that dude that rips out hearts? throw him away.
Giant Thuggee comes with a pickaxe, a scimitar and a strap/belt type thing that the scimitar fits in nicely for storage and intimidation. He also comes with an impressive beard sculpt. Not easy to do on figures without detracting from the movement of the head which is why a lot of times figures just have beards lazily painted on the figure. Which sucks because it usually ends up looking like the figure just got finished rubbing the lower part of his face in poop.
"GIANT THUGGEE DOES NOT PUT HIS FACE IN POOP! GIANT THUGGEE HAS A BEARD!!" He wanted us to tell you that.
All in all these figures are pretty great despite their built-in play features and despite sounding salesy here, would look great on your DVD shelf if you still have such a thing.
Liz - hold up is that that dude that rips out hearts? throw him away.
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